Wire bed-bottom fabric.



No. 265,799. A PATBNTED SERT. 1o, 1907.

H. MGHARDSQN. WIRE BBD BOTTOM FABRIC. APPLIATN FILED FEB-11, lvgl.

PATENTED SEFT. l0, 190'?.

H. RGH-RDSGN. WIRE BED BOTTM FABRIC.

AFPLCATOR TXLED FEB. 11, 1907.

PATENT OFFICE.

HEX RY RICHARDSON, OI" CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

WIRE BED-B OTTOM FABRIC.

Speciication of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 10, 1907.

Application filed February 11,1907. Serial No. 356,775.

To all who/:L it may concern:

Be it known that L Hsxnv Itxcimnnsox, a subject oiithe Kingof Great Britain, residing at Chicago, in the county of t'ookmnl Stute of Illinois, have invented eertnin new and useful Improvements in 'ire Bed-Bottom Fabrics, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to wire fabrics, and more partieularly that class ot fabrics employed for the bottoms of beds, couches, .and the like. In such fabrics the tension or strain imposed thereon is principally in a direetion longitudinally ot' the fztbric; and hence it is desirable to construct a fabric its to well adapt-it to resist and withstand such longitudinal stmins without undue sagging or bowing.

Many fabrics of this character and for this purpose have heretofore been proposed, which are milde up of a plurality of bent wire units connected und arranged in various ways. In mamy cases the units are so connected :1s not to avoid what is known :is diagonal tension, which produces un undesirable contraction or inward bowing of the longitudinal edges of the fabric. In other forms it has been attempted to eliminate this object-ion by uri-inging the units in straight pauliel longitudinul strands, und connecting them laterally by links which serve tu till the spaces between the strands and maintain the stnmds in substantial parallelism.

In the e-.rrlicr und older art of bent-wire bed-bottom fabrics it w-.is common to employ :i considemble number and variety of forms of units iu the make-up of a. single pattern of fabric. In more recent practice, where the units nre machine-made, eonsidemtions of economy in manufacture have brought about. a stylo of fabric wherein the uniLsi are substantiallyidentical and uniform throughout the entire fabric, such units heilig either direcy enguged with each other or connecttxl by short links or clips.

The present invention is of the lutter type; und among the principal objects und advantages sought to be attained thereby may be mentionedf to produce a flexible und foldable fabric which shall preserve the form or A-ontour ol' its` constituent elements or units .lud

y insure the retention of their proper relative positions in the fabric, und particularly of the cross links which connect .ndjncent lougitudimd strands, under :ill conditions ol handling or service; to obtain :t combinntion of grr-at tonsionul strength with lightness of weight, which is secured through the use of units lviug two-ply or twin-wire tension members which divide the longitudinal stmins equally bctwcen them, und which twinwire tfnsion membcls have individual end connections :it cach end with longitudinally adjacent units: to provide u structure permitting independent freedom of longitudinal movement o the individuel lon, gitudinnl stmnds of tbe fabric in service without disstrnnds; to produce a fabric that muy be easily and economically assembled; and, genemlly, to attain a stronger and more perfect fabric of this type than has heretofore been produced.

My invention will be readily understood when considered in connection 'with the accompanying drawings, illustmting :i preferred embodiment of my invention, in which,-

Figurel is a plan view of n. portieri of :t bed-lmttom fratrie and fabric, the latter being broken out intermediate its ends; F ig. 2 is an edge view of Fig. 1, with the end bars of the frame shown in cross-section; Fig. 3s a. fragmentary perspective view of the upper end portion of a. bent-wire unit specially adapted for direct engagement with an end helical; :tud Figs. 4 and 5 are fragmentary plan and edge views, respectively, of a slightly modified form of fabric including V-shaped links between one end of the fabric and the end hcliculs.

Referring to the drawing, l0 may designate one of the longitudinal bum of the brd frame, und 1l und l2 the end or crdss-bars, which bans are conveniently and cheaply formed of angle-bars and secured by bolts l3 and nuts 14. The cross-bars ll und l2 may have their upstanding flanges apertured. :is shown at l5 for the reception of the end hooks of the usual series of helical springs 16 and 17 through which the upper and lower ends of the fabric are commonly united with the upper and lower cross-bars of the` frame, to furnish the desired resiliency and elasticity.

Referring now to the fabric itself, in which the novel features of the present invention more particularly 'reside, this fabric is nitide up of a series of parallel longitudinal stmnds each formed of duplicate orsubstanliullyduplic-.tte bent-wire units connected end to end, in association with space-filling and connecting members that laterally and flexibly unite adjacent strands ut intervals.

Referring llrstA to the invention as illustrated in Figs. I, 2 and 3, and describing the form und construetion of the individual units of the fabric, it will 'be seen that these are euch made from a single length of wire of suitable gage, according to the lood to he sustained, which wire is. bent double at its longitudinal center to form a str-.iight longitudinal tension member of double or two-ply win.I constituting the body of the unit, the twin wires of this unit lwingdesignated by i8, and zich terminating at the lower end of the unit in hooks IH, 'Iheeentml portion of the wire from which the twin wires of the tension member extend is so benl. und disposml :is to provide on the opposite sides of the upper end ofthe tension member sin-.ill loops 19 herein shown :is of triangular form, the inner adjacent sides ol sind loops being constituted by the cxtreme end portions of the twin wires' of the lousion nu-mlu-iguml the lower .sides of the loops being connected .terms :tud beplacement of the transverse crmllections between such g Inathsuid tension member. The units Ihus formed lUO ends ot' tite zinns ot' one transver are connected up in a series oi straight parallel longitudinal strands by simply engaging the hooks at tite lower row with 'the loops forming; the heads of the `tnits oi the next underlying tntnsverse row; tite hclicals 17 ai the lower enti being engaged with the twin hooks at thc lower ends oi' tite lower row of units. and the l-.elicals lil at tite upperend being preferablyhooktai lit tween tite upper end oi tite tension members antithil l-.tt-k\\'; u'dl benl portion oi the wire l'orn'ing tite t-.\'t.| loops. so tltatvlite itciit'al engages both wirt-.s o1' thc tension member and exerts an equal strain on each Where lhc heilt-:tis at the upper end are thus directly engined with tite units, interhooketieng-.th nient olthchelieals ttt-.ty lic facilitated b v bending thc two loops lJ-l t Fig. 1',- downwartily man intermediate line .substantially parallel with the longitudinal axis oi' the tension member. The longitudinal strands thus formed and connected to tite enti bats ot' the franne :ue connected transversely pret'cralilj.' by tnt-ans of simple straight wire links U'having r hooked ends which engage tite adjacent loops l!! and lll ot' laterally adjacent nuits. These links serve to liexibiy connect the longitudinal strand,s and also constitute space-lining and auxiliary supporting mornin-ts for tite mattress.

In the iortn of the invention illustrated in Figs. l and 5, the saine principle oi construction is applied; the said tigures simplyl showing a variation in the form of tite loops constituting the heads oi tite units. the loops lJ" herein shown being approximately circular; and the loops of the upper transverse row being connected to the. end hclic-ls by 'll-shaped links 2l, which tire directly interhookcd at their open ends with the loops lll1A of the nuits, and at their closed ends are engaged by the -hooks of the helicals.

ln tite prt-[erred fot-tn o nuit liet-ein shown, the twin wires oi the two-ply tension member are preferably disposed contiguous at their upper ends` and tite manner oi engagement. of the units spreads the said nientbers somewhat at their lower ends` as sito'wn (except in the case othelowcr transverse row), thus givlng to the hotly oi the unit a tapered form narrowest. at its upper end whereitlit-s between the laterally projecting loops. and widest at its lower end where it intei'iiooks with the loops o the nextl mgilndinally adjacent unit.

Front tite foregoing description and illustration il. will be observed ,that each longit udnal series ot doublewiro units iortniug the longitudinal strands ol' the t'abrc lies` in asingle indopendent diret-t lineol' .st rain frontend to entlo the structurel it has its individual spring connotition with tite cross-haran. cach entl'and a ilcxihle (.'onntft'loltivith nat-lt oi tite siiuilar series on either side of it. Tite spring; connect innsol eat-h series are disposed in axial alinement with the median line or axis ot' thtstrand. so that. both ul tite wires t-onprisinp; the body of each unit receive the sante tension and divide tite strain equally between them. and the llexibililypl the by the dimensions of the loops in respect to possible movement longitudinally of tite units. `A further ndvantage inheres ir. the described formation o loops in that tite twin wire tension nient'o'rrs are thereby all'orded individual end connections at each end with the U itngilndinrliy'adjacent units. that there is afforded a double thickness of wire, instead of a single thickness,

at the interhookcd connection between adjacent units, which greatly contributes to tite tensional strength oi tite longitudinal strands. Furthermore, by reason of tite tact that the longitudinal tension is opposed by and tends to draw tite twin wires of the tension members to gether. while the later-.il tension created by the loads sustained by tite ttansvetse links 20 is opposed by the lower substantially straight transverse connection between the two loops. all tendency to contract the loops or' to distort or det'ornt the individual anits under either the strains imposed by the end heiicals or by the load imposed upon thetabric. is neutralized, and the loops remain rigid and tite fabric will preserve its proper lortu under all conditions.

From tite foregoing it will be observed that the described structure lorms a labric that, while flexible and t'oltlabie both longitudinally and transversely. is nevertirelessl in service substantially rigid in its resistance to both longitudinal and transverse tensional strains; practically all ot' tite resiliency and elasticity being al'ortled by the end helicals. which greatly reduces the 'v local stretching and sighing effects that have hitherto characterized this type ol bed-bottom.

The described fabric can be cheaply aiid easily made, as it is possible to both bend the units to shape and run tlietn ottt in continuous chain forni in a single machine, making it necessary only to supply and connect up the helicals and the transverse connecting links in the manual assembling o the fabric.

Lciaini:

1. A bedltottotn fnl-ric ncludnt' :i plurality o! 'nent wire unlls connected entl to end to ferm parallel longitudinal strztnds enh Lvim.' in n single direct line of strain from 105 end tu enti of thel structure. cach ot' said units consisting it t1 wire bent to fot-tn a str: tgzltt longitudinal two-ply tension member havin; a pnir ot loops at one end thereof. said loops bein;v munccted across snld tension member, ln

combination with transversely tlistmsed links changing the l.strands enclt lying u a single direct line ot' strain from 115 entl to enti ot the structure. erich of said units consisting oi' a wire bent lo forni :t tapered two-ply longitudinal ten* sion member lntvin; a pair nl' loops at its narrow end. C0n necte-,l across said tension ntetnher, in combination with transversely disposed links efr-:anim: the. loops of laterally i mljncent strands. :tntinlly ns described.

Il. bed-bottom fabric including a plurality of benl: wir!! units connected end to end to fot-tn parallel longitudinal strttntls each lying.' in n single dlrect line of strain from entl to end of the fabric. cach of 'said unlts consisting o( 125,

:t wire benl lo lot-xn .'t tapered two-ply longitudinal tension member lmviu: :i pulto! loops nt its narrow end con* nvt-ted across. satl tension member. and :t pali' of hooks lt its wide end ein.' wd with the loops of a. longitudinally ldjaeent unit. ln totonuntlon wltli transversely dlspoued links hooked lnto'tlw loops o( Inti-rally ndjneent strands, substantially its tlt-sct-iIn-d. l

4. .\s :it: :ttticle ol' tnnnufztcture, nn inlegral hentjrlre unit fma bcdbotmnt fabric consisting of [straight inonde-wire longitudinal tenskyn member the tl'hi wires of 135 which tertitt .tte at one vnd in hunks and at. the other end are extvndml to form u pair of opposltely disposed lnops lying wlmlly lutin-:illy of and cnnmteil ut'ross sniil tension nlmnbcr. substantially .is elvsvribwl.

5. As :m :irliulu uf uiunnlurturc,v un intvgrnl bent wire unit for a brd-bottom fabric cunsisting Cf u tapered double-wire luuxilui'linnl tvnsinn member tbc twin wires of which terminate :it tbv wirbcnil in bunks and :it rb@ nurrmv end lie contiguous 'to cach otlwr und ure uxtemlcll to fnim u pair nf nnpnwitvly disposed lunps lying laterally of and cunnecreil ncruss und buneiulx said tension ifxembcr,

substantially ns described.

1. A bed'botrom fabric including u plurality` of bent wire units connected end lo und to form parallel luugitudnnl HENRY RICHARDSON.

Wlfnesses:

SAMUEL N. Pom, Fnsnpnxcx C. Gooniwnt. 

